The Saloum Delta is where the river Saloum and its arms dissolve into a maze of mangrove channels, sandbanks and low islands before meeting the Atlantic, about halfway between Dakar and the Gambian border. It is a flat, watery, shimmering place, where the horizon is a line of mangroves and the only things standing taller than a man are baobabs and the occasional village water tower. Locals call the narrow creeks bolongs, and they wind through the delta like veins.
Riding in Senegal is an adventure in the honest sense. The N5 from Kaolack south towards the Gambia and the roads around Sokone, Toubakouta and Foundiougne are paved but can be patchy, with potholes, speed bumps at every village, donkey carts, goats and overloaded minibuses stopping without warning. Off the tarmac the tracks are sandy laterite, red and corrugated, and some become deep sand that will sap your strength. The cool dry season from November to February is the time to come; the rainy season turns tracks into mud, and the hot months are punishing. Foundiougne is reached by a ferry or by a newer bridge, depending on your direction, and either way the river crossing has a slow, sociable rhythm.
The delta is a World Heritage site for both its nature and its people. Over thousands of years the inhabitants piled up enormous mounds of shells, some topped by burial sites and baobabs, and they are still visible on several islands. The Serer and Niominka communities here fish, gather oysters from mangrove roots and harvest salt in shallow pans. Their villages, many reachable only by pirogue, are a lesson in living with water.
For birdlife it is extraordinary: pelicans, flamingos, herons, ospreys and countless waders, especially at dawn and dusk when the light over the channels turns silver and pink. Monkeys move through the dry woodland behind the mangroves, and the air smells of salt mud and woodsmoke.
Sokone, about fifteen kilometres away, is the nearest town of any size and has fuel, though stations in rural Senegal can run dry, so fill wherever you see a pump with stock. Toubakouta and Foundiougne have small hotels and campements where you can eat grilled fish, rice and spicy onion sauce. Carry plenty of water, and keep the bike out of the midday sun when you stop.